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Weigh to Bake Revisited--The Perfect Scales

May 3, 2011 | From the kitchen of Rose

I've already made my case for why weighing rather than measuring is so much more desirable and enjoyable. I know some people resist partly because they don't know which scale to choose, a good scale can be very expensive, and even relatively expensive scales designed for home use lack some important features of the professional laboratory scales.

Several years ago, a fellow blogger contacted me regarding a scale that he found more reliable and affordable than one I had mentioned on this blog. I promised to check it out and here are the happy results:

The MY WEIGH digital scales are the answer! the 3 scales most appropriate for baking are

and the i201 for weighing minute quantities such as baking powder, citrus zest, or yeast, and weighs up to 200 grams/7 ounces.

The KD-7000 and KD-8000scales weigh from 1 gram (0.1 ounce) to 7000 grams/7 kilograms/15.4 pounds, or 8000 grams/8 kilograms/17.6 pounds. (The model number refers to the maximum number of grams the scale is capable of weighing.)

The scales vary in price from $35 to $65.

Here's a company that invites consumer response and suggestions. The result is that there is finally an electronic scale for the home baker that can be operated by adaptor as well as battery and, what is most important: The automatic power-off can be disabled so that it doesn't inconveniently time-out when you're in the middle of weighing and got distracted for a few minutes (don't you just HATE when that happens!)

So many nice features: The scales are small and compact, not taking up much counter space; an adjustable-angle backlight timer with option for how long to stay lit; a hold option for large boxes that hide the display; and of course a tare option (removes the weight of the bowl and last ingredients added).

When I asked the owner of the company how they could keep the scales at so affordable a price and yet maintain such high standards of quality and exacting accuracy his answer was : "The prices are low because we believe in lower margin, higher volume sales. We also keep our costs extremely low by producing and distributing the scales ourselves!"

If everything in life were designed with such thoughtful integrity it would indeed be a perfect world.

check out www.myweigh.com
be sure to go to the section on how to select or choose the right kitchen scale to compare the features of the models i mentioned.

"the few things that measure with such minute quantities are baking powder, baking soda, salt, etc, which i prefer to measure with spoons! "

I can scale my recipes with much greater flexibility; using spoons would mean rounding to the nearest measuring spoon size.

I keep recipes on a spreadsheet and nudging the flour up or down automatically adjusts yeast and salt quantities in weight. I don't need to worry about how many 1/4 teaspoons it is, or whether I'm using sea salt or kosher.

Mine has a 100 g capacity; this is fine, because the things which weigh more also require less precision.

the KD-7000 or KD-8000 are my favorite scales. their accuracy is to the 1 gram and it reads very very fast and has a maximum capacity of 7000 to 8000 grams. just ideal, both for precision, easy of use, and capacity.

i don't see a need for accuracy to the 0.1 gr; the few things that measure with such minute quantities are baking powder, baking soda, salt, etc, which i prefer to measure with spoons! (accurate spoons such as pourfectbowl.com brand). another consideration, is that these minute scales have a capacity of about 500 gr, so if higher capacity at such precision, it will cost a lot more $$$

i do have a Palmscale (0.01 gr precision, 300 gr capacity), and a MX500 (0.1 gr precision, 500 gr capacity), but seldom use. these are fairly inexpensive still yet (but small capacity). i find myself using them when baking 2 or 3x batches of cakes, and it is faster to weight baking powder (for example) than measuring several spoonfuls!

i have the KD-8000 and the UBER ALUM. my favorite is the KD-8000 because it is very fast reading, has large lcd numbers, conveniently placed buttons, and a nice elevated weighing platform like most commercial bakery scales.

for baking powder, soda, and salt, i usually measure with pourfect measuring spoons. when i need to divide or multiply recipes, i weigh. when i add 10% of sugar to freeze egg yolks, i weigh, too. i use the Palmscale 8 300g x 0.01g (not the 800g x 0.1g). it is a very cute scale, portable, and comes with very convenient weighing "bowls." i also have the MX500 which has a 500g x 0.1g, which i adore because the sliding cover is taped under my countertop, so the scale stows away there.

Some time ago, I recall you mentioned a scale just for measuring tiny quantities of ingredients. I have a Soehnle scale that is great for all but tiny quantities. I bake a lot of bread and sometimes need the tiny measurement. Which scale do you recommend? I hate to buy a big scale that isn't accurate for small amounts.

Have you heard of the Maxview Scale that appears to be new at King Arthur?

Any thoughts on the KD8000 scale instead of the KD7000 scale? I'm thinking about getting a new scale and I want to be sure I'm making the right decision. I'm interested in the baking measurement change option on the KD8000.

Of all the kitchen gadgetry I own, I do not have a digital scale and it would be a such a help if I did. Thanks for such a thoughtful post... hopefully my sig other hasn't bought all my xmas gifts yet :-)

Josh. I have had the same problem that Virginia once had. My beloved KD7000 won´t turn on. First, I had to push the on button several times, before it started. Then, it stopped working, though I changed the batteries or used the AC unit purchased with the scale.
I can tell you that, as at least to my knowledge, my scale hasn´t been abused.
The problem is, a friend bought it for me in USA. He doesn't remember where and lost the receipt long ago. What can I do?
I am also afraid that the cost of sending it to USA could be more expensive than buying a new one. Do you have a representative here in Costa Rica?

Josh. I have had the same problem that Virginia once had. My beloved KD7000 won´t turn on. First, I had to push the on button several times, before it started. Then, it stopped working, though I changed the batteries or used the AC unit purchased with the scale.
I can tell you that, as at least to my knowledge, my scale hasn´t been abused.
The problem is, a friend bought it for me in USA. He doesn't remember where and lost the receipt long ago. What can I do?
I am also afraid that the cost of sending it to USA could be more expensive than buying a new one. Do you have a representative here in Costa Rica?

chocolate sculpting is something I haven't specialized on because I enjoy my hot weather.

my 7 cake wedding day started at 4 am with a temperature of 45oF. Towards the reception at 11 am, the temp warmed to 70oF. I took ful advantage of the low temp... cakes remained fresh all day long. but glad I brought a hair drier for the chocolate praline sheets which wasn't sufficient in any case but the hair drier itself made a statement!

Hector, along with everything else about you, I'm now grateful for one more thing- the fact that you also live in similar climate, so I can feel reassured that it is all possible in the heat n humidity!

Also you should check out the new KD8000 that has Bakers Math/Percentage weighing. It was based on user comments. The scales are designed here - eg the KD8000 was actually designed electronics-wise in Phoenix, the body of the scale comes from our Canadian design.

Thanks for the tip, Rose, but out of the three you've recommended, which is the best? Also, I tried looking for the 15000 on their site, but they don't show any match. Any dieas on what I'm doing wrong?

One more question- how much does your preferred model weigh itself? It might seem like the whole weighing issue has made me go daft, but I'm asking because this is coming in someone's luggage :)

Hi everytone. I'm hoping someone can give me a definitive answer on THE best scale. My sister is coming from the US, and I'm thinking of asking her to lug one over.

There are several different scales being mentioned here. Which is the best in term sof efficiency, cleaning etc?? (I was going through all your posts very quickly, but Adrian's comments about hard-to-clean buttons caught my eye).

Also, has anyone ever tried the OXO food scale? People are raving quite a bit about it, especially its pull-out display etc.

I won't be able to get anything new for a long time if I don't like the one I get, so I'm asking here, since TCB people use weight in their baking. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

This question is for Joshua K.
Can you recommed which US store to purchase one of your scale? Just want to be sure I deal with a reputable company without any return issues if I come across a defective scale

Josh, Santa brought me the Alessi scale. It is beautiful, and it came directly from a store in Italy. It is made in China.

It is plenty beautiful and functional and it will remain as my kitchen scale. For everyone contemplating this form, choose the version from My Weight (the Uber), it has more functions and it costs less, read above as Josh has an excellent description of the Uber.

One thing, Alessi also has a bathroom scale, just like the kitchen model, but bigger. Pretty much non-affordable.

I've only used the KD-7000. It does work as you describe. You can press TARE multiple times and add ingredients. I've tested using it this way by weighing items both separately and with tare, and the results generally agree very well (within a gram).

I find the rigid protector over the faceplate to be indispensable. I ruined my last scale by getting the keys and display wet.

And of course, the AC adapter, backlit display, and ability to turn off the auto-off feature are great, but I assume the i5000 has those too.

Incidentally, I liked the KD-7000 so much, I bought one of their bathroom scales. Now I can have fun watching my body fat percentage go up during the holidays.

I'm hoping you can help me with a decision and I thought your answer might be helpful to others on this blog.

I've been looking at the MyWeigh i5000 bowl scale and the KD-7000. They both look like great scales for cooking and I'm trying to make a decision between the two.

I'm looking for a good scale for baking that will last me a long time. I've read the "selecting a scale" article on the MyWeigh site and the posts in this blog. Here's what I have gathered so far:
-5000g or 7000g capacity (straight forward from the model # (I think either would be sufficient for me, but the extra 2000g is appealing)
-It looks like both scales have the same degree of accuracy.
-Both have a seamless/sealed keypad to keep dust and light mositure out with the KD-7000 having the additional flexible and rigid display/key cover/guard (recently improved in response to customer feedback).
-Only the i5000 has the counting and Add N Weigh features. (Both are nice, but I probably won't use the counting feature and I wouldn't need the Add N Weigh feature if the KD-7000 works like I think it does - see below for more on this.)

Question: Can I use the KD-7000 to weigh multiple ingredients in the same bowl/container, i.e. put bowl on scale and tare (display 0), weigh ingredient 1 (display weight ingred 1), tare scale (display 0), weigh ingredient 2 (display weight ingred 2), tare scale (display 0), continue with additional ingredients? If I understand correctly the answer to this question is 'yes'. Also, the Add N Weigh feature works the same with the added function of allowing you to toggle between the weight of the current ingredient x alone and the cummulative weight of all ingredients. Is this correct?

I have also inferred from some postings on this blog that, abuse aside, the KD-7000 may have a slight advantage over the i5000 in keeping dust and liquids (not immersed of course) out of the inner workings and thus may be a little more durable.

(As a final side note I ruled out the Uber scale based on Joshua's post re: form vs. function. I'm looking for a workhorse more than beauty.)

So, my ultimate question is which one should I buy? I think I'm leaning towards the KD-7000 for the extra capacity and the potentially better durability.

I LOVE Alessi, and they are a company with years in the business. It is my impression (the Uber would be the second incident I experience) that Alessi may be "outsourcing" to China too much! Alessi is known to be a strong Italian brand with strong local economy (Italian) support. I like to purchase a Porshe made in France, and not anywhere else, for example.

My first suspicious incident was when I purchased Alessi's demitasse spoons shaped as hearts. lovely product at about $10 each spoon! Well made and beautifully packaged. After careful inspection of the packaging, there was a very beautiful note card saying in many sentences "Alessi is Italian, etc, etc," it kept going on, and the last sentence said "Alessi is starting to use new materials and technology for innovation and production, including such found outside Italy, thus a few Alessi products are now made outside Italy," these spoons are made in China!" Alessi claims that ALL their products are still designed in-house in Italy.

Thanks again for your explanation and for assuring the Uber has more functions than the Alessi. However, it is still unclear who designed it first, or who copied from who: Luo Chi vs Stefano Giovannoni. But, this is important, what is important is the scale itself.

That's the beauty of doing business in China... The scale was supposedly designed by Luo Chi in 2003 and was offered to us at that time. We kind of hemmed and hawed and eventually put it into production in 2005, receiving them in 2006.

I first heard about this Alessi issue about this about 3 months ago. We received a sample back in 2003 (I think) from the designer but it was hand made and kind of rough. We set about improving it and in the end it's amusing but our scale is nicer and more fully featured then the Alessi. Our on/off system with the rear switch and the AC power is far superior to the battery-only, battery killing (no real power off) Alessi.

I heard this from two people who own both scales (funny). Plus ours seems to cost half of the Alessi, higher capacity, better readability etc..

This is the problem with China. I'm fortunate that on most of our scales like the KD and 7001 we designed them in-house in Vancouver BC Canada and engineered them in Hueckelhoven Germany so there is no chance of a "who's on first" issue...

(don't quote me on any of this, I'm never sure of anything except death..)

As I wait for my 2" thick Biscuit de Savoie to soak in the top sprikle of syrup, I could not resist but jump a comment on this thread.

The one thing I would recommend the KD-7000 over the Uber is that the KD has an unobstructed "flat" weighting surface while the Uber does not. Often I put a half baking sheet on my scale, and work and weight as I bake, specially useful when I am syrup-ing the Biscuit de Savoie by weight. I suppose that I could first put a cake pan on the Uber, to raise the half sheet enough so it won't be knocking on the display panel!

Neither I have either one, but weight to bake is such a MUST. I can't stop saying that not only you have more accurate results, IT IS A LOT EASIER to measure by weight than by volume, not just the math, but voiding the cleanup of measuring spoons and cups is such treat.

I have the Soehle (recommended decades ago), it is too simple and it lacks of many convenient features, but it is still a BEAUTY of European engineering. Regarding the auto-off feature, I actually love it and NEED it, because it makes me work fast and better organized, I have written with permanent ink the weight of my mixer bowls and most all other bowls, so I often factor add the weight of the bowl.

The auto-off feature saves my scale battery since I ALWAYS forget to turn things OFF. I think most electronics today, turn off or go into sleep mode by itself, maybe required to be Energy EPA compliant! Everything from your automobile headlamps, computer screen, cell phone, room lights, rice cooker, range hoods, it all comes with auto off! Even neighbor noise comes with auto-off (past midnight if you call the police!).

Side note: I praise Rose for her lack of capital letters, but she does manage to put the accents and symbols above the U of the Uber. I think I call these apocalipsis!

July 28th is coming soon. 3 more 9" x 2" Biscuit de Savoie cakes, and I can concentrate on piping and of course logistics. 5 pm. I like to brag that the same day I have a wedding at noon, and I am glad I was not asked to make the wedding cake; I did provide the cake for their wedding shower (surprise gift), the bride and groom keeps telling me thank-you-for-the-gift (the Amaretto soaked heart cake with the pool of chocolate ganache). But knowing how Bridezillas one can get, I will be prepared for a last minute cake request for their wedding. They are my dear scuba diving buddies, I trust my life with them underwater and I do to on the ground.

i am recommending both the über and the KD7000 in my upcoming book. i agree with josh that the KD is more of a workhorse and you can use it for large, say 12 inch cake pans as it has a perfectly flat top.
the über is totally stunning but i'm still turning to my KD because it doesn't have an auto shut off or at least i programmed mine not to and as yet the über doesn't have this deprogrammable feature!

Sorry - I'll try to clear things up. Here is an explanation from the bottom of our KD7000 page;

The next improvement was in the area of Modes. Our customers had specific needs, and we needed to accommodate every postal / shipping company. Thus we made the new Ultraship read in Pounds:Ounces, Pounds, Straight Ounces, Grams, Kilograms. This is very important because in the USA some people need their scale to display 5 1/4 pounds as "5lb : 4.0oz" and some people need it to be shown as "5.250lb" or even "84.0oz". Likewise for Kilograms some people need 2.5 kilograms to be displayed as "2.500kg" and some people need it to be shown as "2500g".

And I must also apologize because upon further investigation, I see that the UBER does offer pounds:ounces, but does not specify that it will display the amount in total ounces. Since it wouldn't be used for shipping, I'm not certain that would matter. I do also note that the UBER is more accurate (0.05oz gradations vs 0.10 gradations). I'm leaning toward the UBER, but I need to understand it better still. Thanks for your feedback, Pamela.

Thanks, Pamela. But as I understand it the pounds and ounces means that it would give either pounds with ounces as a percentage or total weight in ounces. So, for example, 3lb. 4 oz. would show up as either 52 oz or as 3.25 lb. Whereas the description of the KD-7000 specifically lists pounds:ounces, meaning that it can display 3 lbs/ 4 ozs. Not having that capaability could waste a lot of time in the kitchen.

Wow, I checked out the UBER, and it is beautiful. It would look great in my kitchen, and I would choose it if it had pounds:ounces measurements. I don't want to have a calculator in my kitchen. So, I think I will stick with the KD-7000. It also looks good, and does have many more functions. Thanks for the quick response!

Kerry, the UBER is in stock although very limited due to it's high cost and difficulty in production.

The UBER is more about beauty then it is function. It's the most beautiful and exotic kitchen scale in the world but that does not mean you should buy one. We produced it as a showpiece and I actually discourage people from buying one unless they want a beautiful scale to go with a beautiful modern kitchen (for people who's entire kitchen is a work of art).

That being said, I always suggest the KD-7000 to everyone. It's proven to be a great workhorse with a very low return rate. We have done our best to perfect that instrument for actual normal hard cooking abuse and other uses such as candle making, soap making etc.. If you read the various forums online you will see that the KD7000 is the scale of choice among these crowds.

So - to recap - beauty = UBER Function & Value = KD-7000

Then of course we have other models for other needs such as the i5000 and 7001DX. (I could type all day..)

Ask Rose which models she likes the best, she might feel differently then I do.

Hello, I got to this blog through the My Weigh website. I am on the verge of purchasing a scale, probably a KD-5000. This blog has answered several questions I had. Now my one remaining question is: Can we please have more information about the coming "uber" scale?

Also, I must add that I sent a couple of e-mails to My Weigh, and they answered promptly and personally. As someone else previously mentioned, the response was not some silly irrelevant canned response.

I bought the i5000H (the hemp one) and haven't had any trouble with the scale. It's very light. I thought it might make the job of counting change when I roll them easier, however, because of the slight variation of weight in coins, it's not the most accurate. The scale's count of 51 pennies turned out to be 46 pennies. Not a fault of the scale, of course.

Hi Doug, I just read your question. Low 90's should not be a problem but upper 90's will start to slightly affect accuracty. Really - it's not much but perhaps another 1-2%. As the temperature increases hotter and hotter the scale will lose a bit of accuracy - increasing as the temp goes above 110. We did some Arizona desert tests with the KD7000. We got the load cell up to 120 in the sun. It lost about 5% accuracy but the bigger problem was that the LCD reached about 145 and became hard to read. Both problems went away when we brought it back into a normal enviro. Please do NOT try these tests on your scale. All I'm saying is that you don't have much to worry about. If you constantly use the scale in 95f, I would suggest calibrating the scale at that temperature to adjust for most possible variations.

I just ordered the KD-7000 scale and have a question about it. I read that it should not be kept and used in excessively hot areas. The temperature in the kitchen where we will be using it sometimes reaches into the low 90s (no airconditioning unfortunately). Is this considered excessive heat?

I got my KD7000 last Christmas (upon request) and absolutely LOVE it! To anyone who is hesitant, please accept my wholehearted endorsement. It is the best scale I have ever owned. Besides cooking, I even use it to weight my 18 year old cat, to help keep an eye on his downward health spiral.

It's not tiny, but that is what I wanted. I emailed My Weigh a number of times with questions and comments before settling on this scale, and I couldn't believe how responsive they were. Instead of the usual robot-like one-line reply, I got full, in-depth explanations and a real dialogue.

There's only one thing that bugs me about my scale: changing the auto-off time involves a confusing, arcane process of pressing different buttons in combination, waiting five seconds, and possibly uttering some voodoo chant. I don't know why there can't be a simple switch, or at least have the instructions printed on the scale. If you lost the manual you'd never be able to change it.

We got it from Oldwillknottscales.com and had a very good experience with them, too.

BTW, as far as keeping the receipt for the warranty, now I just staple my receipts for everything inside the product manual and file them away. But some companies do let you register your product online, so you don't necessarily have to keep the records. That would be nice.

Liz is a RESELLER - just a customer of ours who buys and sells scales. She does not work for us. She has her own business with her son where she sells scales of many brands. That is where two of the above posters met her and interacted with her.

We usually get emails saying how great her service is. However every once in a while something like what you read above happens. I assure you that it's few and far between. However the choice is ultimately yours as to where you purchase your scale.

The bottom line is that we do stand behind our scales 100% and we do stand behind our gold seal merchants as listed on our website. Please read the posts carefully and check other websites, I have read many great things about Canadianweigh and Oldwillknott and Saveonscales and our friends at Lotioncrafter. It's really up to you which reseller you feel best about :)

I was considering purchasing one of these scales, but am now feeling somewhat apprehensive.

The company does seem to take manufacturing issues seriously, but I have yet to read any postings that address the issue of what some have described as Rude, Curt, Trite, and Unprofessional responses given by the person who seems to be the company's customer service contact (ie person named Liz).

I wonder if this customer service person is a meer employee, or is related to the company via ownership/family relation?

Any helpful response from the company would be greatly appreciated. I really would like to purchase one of your scales, but not until I feel I would be treated in a professional and respectful manner if there should happen to be an issue with either the manufacturing of the scale itself, a problem with the shipping, or whatever else the case might be.

FWIW: I culdn't be happier with my KD7000 and with the myweight company. I posted a couple of questions on this blog looking for some guidance, and a myweight tech emailed me with answers.
Very impressed.

Elaine, you make it difficult for everyone on this blog to make informed decisions when you don't post accurate information. Here is a copy of what you wrote:

"I sent my concerns to My Weigh directly on February 26, 2007 (to their My Weigh Gold Seal Online Merchant Guarantee contact email address), and have NOT received *any* reply whatsoever. On the My Weigh site, they claim that "My Weigh is the Best Weigh and our Gold Seal Merchants will prove that to you." I am still waiting..."

As you know you did communicate with both my staff and me personally multiple times as shown in the web page above. I hope you will edit your post above, it's not fair to say things like this when they are not true.

We do our best to support all of our scales to a level that is higher then anyone else in the weighing industry. However we really can't help people when they don't respond to us or when they write things that aren't true.

Please think about how many people read this blog and would have been affected by your incorrect post. It's not fair to the community nor to my staff.

We DO stand behind our scales and our quality and designs are really top notch. If your scale truly is damaged and it somehow happened at our factory then of course we stand behind it 100%. However we showed you that the scratch appeared to simply be from you not removing the protective film :(

I tried to peel off the plastic cover from the LCD, but it would not come off. I showed it to someone else, and they also could not find any protective cover. I was afraid that if I tried to the remove the existing cover, it would further damage the LCD.

I received an email from Tech services, but have NOT received any reply from contact@myweigh.com - the side that deals with the My Weigh Gold Seal Online Merchant Guarantee. The Tech services reply still did not address or acknowledge the problem of poor customer service with Canadian Weigh.

It's hard for me to respond to people who post false information. This person above has been in touch with us several times. I explained that she had forgotten to remove the protective sheet of clear plastic from the LCD (you know, that clear sheet that is on many electronic items to protect it during transport). I explained that she just had to remove it - and she said it had been removed. I pointed out in her photograph that it was still on the display and she never emailed us back.

Now she has posted this silly comment above which is really completely incorrect. I have 5 emails here that went back and forth with her where she communicated with our reps.

I purchased the KD-7000 from Canadian Weigh on February 17, 2007, due to recommendations on this blog and other reputable web sites.

Like Kimberlie Robert, I, too, received very unprofessional service from Liz at Canadian Weigh. Their site offers no telephone contact, and does not outline their policies clearly (returns, etc.).

My KD-7000 arrived with a noticeable scratch and dent on the LCD, directly over the first digit readout which I would see every time I used the scale. The damage appears to have occurred during the manufacturing process rather than shipping. I wrote to Liz and asked for a resolution to my concerns. Since I paid in good faith, but received a product that was not in perfect condition (Canadian Weigh's own policy is that any returned scale be in "perfect sellable condition"), I felt that I should not have to incur return shipping charges (the extra charges would have made the scale cost more than if I had ordered through a US site, brokerage fees and all). I asked Liz for an amenable resolution to my concerns, and her replies showed no empathy for my situation, were unprofessional, and trite. She offered no other solutions, and has not replied since. I am not at all satisfied with the service I received, and would like to give others a 'heads up' before they consider buying a scale from Canadian Weigh.

Further, I sent my concerns to My Weigh directly on February 26, 2007 (to their My Weigh Gold Seal Online Merchant Guarantee contact email address), and have NOT received *any* reply whatsoever. On the My Weigh site, they claim that "My Weigh is the Best Weigh and our Gold Seal Merchants will prove that to you." I am still waiting...

I went to a party where a woman made a cake that is the best cake I ever had. She would not give out the recipe or any clues about it. It's color was sort of faint yellow-white with a grey overtone. The texture was dense and moist - not too fluffy - but not too rich. It seemed to have a very light - almost a crust-like edge all around the top - buttery and super tender - not crispy or anything. But I remember trying to figure out what the secret ingredient could be - cornmeal or almond meal? I have no idea. It almost seemed like it was baked in a cast iron skillet and then inverted on a plate - and it had the distict shape of that, too - where the edges were squared off all around the round cake. She made fresh whipped cream with strawberries for the topping - which she served on the slightly warm cake. It was so divine - and I am on the search for ANY recipe even remotely like it! Does ANYONE have anything close??

I have my Soehnle 66522 Futura. Snatched it from Amazon.com at under $50 bucks. Very easy to look at and clean. Yes, it has its hickups (power time off, limited to 4 lbs, and odd switch from grams to oz). But it does the job for me. How about the myweigh.com Uber Superior Kitchen Scale?

I'm not questioning whether the scale was tested before it left the shop. I believe you when you say that it was. Thank you for the effort. This is not the issue.

As a customer who ordered the scale in good faith, I believe it is reasonable and standard business that I receive the new product I ordered in good working condition at no additional cost beyond the initial shipping charge. This is standard business practice with every company that ships. I'm not asking for anything special.

I realize that shipping damage occurs. It's a fact of life. However, in these rare circumstances, a little customer service would have been helpful. I have no idea what reason Liz gave you for the damage. She said very little to me. She gave me no consideration, no phone number or address. Liz's e-mails were curt, sometimes written in capital letters and completely unhelpful. I was forced to take the financial responsibility for the damage that I didn't cause. I did not destroy the scale; it arrived that way out of the box. I couldn't claim an insurance form with Canada Post. I got no return call or a response to my e-mail from My Weigh either. This is not about blame; this is about responsibility.

You're right, this blog is about cooking. And I would be happy to discuss this further with you directly, however, I could not find your e-mail address on the website. Lets talk directly. Let me know how to get in touch with you. I would like to resolve this.

It is difficult for me to respond to you because Liz gives a different reason for the damage then what you posted above. She stands by her son (see below) and that the scale was perfect when it left her hands.

We still swapped you out for a brand new scale, but we can't be responsible if a scale is destroyed by being dropped onto a hard floor or if the UPS man/woman damages the box. I know for certain that Liz's son Joey tests every scale before he ships them. I know this because once in a blue moon they will send back a scale they pre-tested. They don't want to have to take back anything from their customers because it costs so very much.

So, they really did test the scale before they sent it to you and it really did work. They test it by turning the scale on and placing a test weight on it, to be sure the scale works and is accurate. If it's not accurate they recalibrate the scale.

It's really great way of customer service, imagine if everyone did that with every product they sell on the net. I wish Dell had done that with my last laptop which arrived with a defective hard drive :(

I purchased the KD7000 on request from this blog in June of 2006. I bought it from Canadian Weigh and had one the worst consumer experiences. It arrived in pieces. The LED panel and computer board were disconnected and were rattling around in its housing. Canadian Weigh considered it a warranty problem and refused to assume responsibility for my shipping costs to return it the warehouse (approx $20).

As a representative for My Weigh, Canadian Weigh refused to be responsible for the scale. Liz insisted that the scale left the warehouse in perfect working order and therefore she would not incur the shipping cost to have it replaced. Liz e-mailed to say that if I want to be compensated for my shipping expense, I could claim the insurance with Canada Post—something that, as the receiver of the product, I cannot do. According to Canada Post, the shipper must be the one who files the claim. I asked Liz at Canadian Weigh for a telephone number on three different occasions and she rejected all my requests to resolve this in person. I searched in every possible location for a phone number in both Alberta (based on website information)and in BC. I tried to call My Weigh and left messages on an unidentifiable phone machine (the message gave no indication that I had reached the My Weigh offices) My Weigh did not return my calls or e-mails. No phone numbers. No addresses. No accountability. Wow.If I were wealthy, I would have called my attorney to track you all down.

The scale appeared to have been packaged with great care and the box showed no sign of mishandling: no punctures or dents. This wasn't a matter of blame; it was a matter of responsibility.

As a customer who ordered the scale in good faith, I believe it is reasonable and standard business that I receive the new product I ordered in good working condition at no additional cost beyond the initial shipping charge. If after that, the product needs servicing, then I understand I would be responsible for the shipping cost.

In the end, I paid for the shipping and received a scale in good condition and is still working fine. But I was abused as a customer and have little faith in your company. I happened upon this string of blogs and took note of Josh's responsiveness to other consumer problems. After consideration, I felt it might be useful to resurrect this most unfortunate incident in hopes of resolving it.

We use the receipt to prove that the person is the original owner of the scale (our warranty is only for the original owner, as the original owner is more likely to take better care of the scale and read the manual, have the box, etc..). Our experience is that once scales change hands a couple times, the new owners aren't quite as careful with the instrument as the person who originally picked out our model and bought it.

I personally have been at a flea market and seen some horrible condition scales being sold for just a few dollars. We can't warranty those sorts of scales (nobody knows where they have been or the sort of treatment the previous owner gave to them).

We're an older company, and some things we have learned with experience. One of those is that nobody treats a scale better then the original owner :)

I purchased the KD7000 in November of 2006. I was very pleased with it's overall operation although I did notice that sometimes when lifting the keypad cover (which I tended to leave in place to avoid spill issues) it would dislodge the metal weigh plate which would invaribly change the weight of what was on the scale. Easily delt with I gues by removing the cover entirely.

In February, I started having an issue with turning the scale on - basically, it wouldn't turn on unless I repeatedly pushed the on button 8-10 times. I tried new batteries, as well as the optional AC unit I purchased at the same time as the scale. No difference.

Not being able to locate the original receipt (I purchased online from SaveOnScales), I would have to pay a $35. service charge. Well, add in the cost of shipping and I can buy a new scale. I actually emailed SaveOnScales to see if they could forward me a copy of my original purchase, but they claimed to have done a system overhaul in November and cannot pull any records from prior to that :>( Not their fault, but still a disappointment.

I find it amazing that with a 30 year warranty we actually need to maintain the orginal receipt?? Why can't My Weigh begin a registry system of scales? Even if they were to charge me $5.00 to register my scale, it would be worth it to not have to hold on to a receipt for 30 years!

Question on "negative" measuring.
From what I've read, the KD-7000 supports "negative" measuring (i.e. zero the scale with the flour container on, then scoop out flour until it shows the weight you want you need).
Does i5000 (or i5000H) has this feature too?
Also, how does the Hemp Plastic housing compare with the non-Hemp one when it comes to using it in the kitchen?

adrian, you'll be pleased to know that this is a co. that actually welcomes responses of all sorts and anything they deem relevant or valuable they incorporate into their next design.
i use the KD-7000 and really like the little lift up cover that protects the buttons. i leave it in place even though i use the tare function frequently. all you have to do is lift it a tiny bit.
but wait until you see the new uber. it's a work of art and the 'buttons' work without your having to touch them. your finger just has to get near them.
incidentally, i don't work for the co.
also, i too would never dream of putting a scale in a dishwasher any more than i'd put a thermometer in the dishwasher--even if a co. told me i could. it really makes one wonder where they're coming from--it seems almost disrespectful to the instrument!
thanks for sharing--all opinions that come from a good place are welcome on this blog.

I don't have any special issues I need to discuss. I posted here in a public forum to give people information about my experience with the scale. The 7001DX worked great as a postal scale. From what I've heard the speed of response issue was unique to my scale. Perhaps it would be a good kitchen scale for someone who only measures dry ingredients and keeps their scale in a special dry-ingredient-only zone. Then it could be cleaned by vacumming. But that's not me. I'm not upset. I don't blame the company. I'm not after a refund. I'm responsible for how I treated the scale. But I think other people who might consider buying the 7001DX should be aware of this limitation of the scale.

A kitchen scale in my kitchen needs to be a little bit washable. It needs to have water resistant, cleanable buttons. I wrote about this in my previous post but for some reason the blog software cut it out. It doesn't need to be waterproof--that's overkill--but if the buttons area is filled with little grooves and nooks that accumulate crud and I can't even wipe it with a damp sponge without risk to the scale then its demise is inevitable. Maybe I don't understand the manufacturing issues, but my previous scale, a Teraillon, was not waterproof but it nevertheless had waterproof buttons. The buttons were smooth and seamless. My toaster oven has waterproof buttons. I think the Kitchenaid food processor does too. Lots of kitchen appliances have them. I would imagine that making a truly waterproof scale is MUCH more difficult than just providing water resistant buttons. None of the above mentioned appliances are waterproof, after all.

However, scale manufacturers don't advertise the cleanability of their buttons. And almost no scale can be seen in a store. So I have to buy based on product descriptions and guesses. Perhaps someone who has the KD-7000 can comment on the cleanability of this scale? I went ahead and got the waterproof one because I could be sure it would actually have cleanable buttons. (It's dishwasher safe, even. Not that I plan to put it in the dishwasher.)

Do you think that your scales are absolutely perfect, suitable for every possible application and every situation?

If your problem customer who keeps sending back scales that she got wet is killing one scale every two months and they cost $40 then it doesn't take very long for that to add up to $275. In the long run she'd be better off buying the $275 scale. The fact that the $275 scale can be had for only $100 now makes the choice even easier.

I didn't say the 7001DX scale was a badly designed scale. I said it was a bad >>KITCHEN

Yes, the 7001DX has more features. And yes it has a higher capacity. And yes, it's cheaper. But it only survived about 2 years in my kitchen. I know it's fashionable to buy new stuff every six months, but I prefer stuff that lasts longer than that.

My only criticisms of the 7001DX as a scale is that I didn't like that it took a long time to turn on. (However the A&D scale is no better.) And I didn't like that it took 2-3 seconds to respond to a change in the weight when I added a small amount of material. (The A&D is much better here.)

The KD7000 may be wonderful. I never saw it in person so it's hard to judge. But I don't like the idea of disposable button covers. And the hard cover would always have to be up because I use the tare button, so I'd inevitably spill stuff under the cover. And then I'd have to clean it. Since I killed by 7001DX by careful cleaning with a damp sponge this didn't make me hopeful. I figured better safe than sorry.

I thought people would be interested in knowing about the existence of these waterproof scales. They are out there.

Wow, it's hard for me to fully respond to your post because of the sheer quantity of comments. First please note that the AND scale you think is better then the 7001 that you say you own is three times (3X) the price. You could buy 3 7001's for the price of that one scale! Also the 7001 has a 2.3X higher capacity, reads in more modes, has more features, more accessories, I could go on and on...

I agree that it's possible to get water into the keyboard of the 7001, but this is actually possible on any non waterproof scale, and any non waterproof device such as a cell phone or computer. I really think your saying the scale is not of superior quality because you got food, flour and liquids stuck under the keys is not fair. If you spent your life designing and building scales then had someone abuse it and say it was a bad design, you'd be pretty bummed out too (speaking personally here, sorry for the rant honestly, it's just that we try so very hard and your comments just don't seem fair).

The KD7000 is undoubtably one of our best designed and best selling kitchen and cooking scales ever made. The splash guard is very well thought out and very simple to use. You just lift it and use the keyboard. Or, if you don't want or need it, you can simply remove it. The instructions that come with the scale even feature a diagram to make it very simple to understand.

I had a My Weigh 7001DX for a while. I wonder if it was defective because it was very slow (even on fresh batteries). If I added a spoonful of flour to the scale sometimes it would take several seconds to change (and there was no indication that the current reading was wrong).

Unfortunately, this scale is extremely hard to clean, so I really would NOT recommend it for kitchen use. The botton area is full of little grooves and nooks for food to get stuck in. At one point I wiped it down to clean fish off of it and something happened to the buttons. I think it would have been fine if I'd just taken out the batteries and let it dry, but I pressed a few buttons and somehow recalibrated it. To fix it requires a calibration weight...which costs more than the scale did. Reasonably water resistant and smooth, cleanable buttons seem like an absolute requirement for a kitchen scale.

I considered the KD-7000 as a replacement, but from what I could tell, it has some weird system with a cover plate for the buttons which seemed likely to cause trouble---more grooves and nooks. (And if it needs a cover plate the buttons must not be water resistant and easy to clean. But you have to open the cover to press the tare button, or use disposable covers.)

I finally got this one. It's definitely more expensive, but it can go in the dishwasher. I suggest that anybody who can't keep their scale dry consider something like this:

Hi, yes the last one she sent back to us had water damage on the P.C.B. and therefore had short circuited. We warranty swapped it out with a brand new one anyway. This time she is saying that the one we sent her stopped working 4 months later and she will only accept a full refund. We asked her to send us the scale so we can see it and find out why this one broke too. I hope it's not water damage again - we're very nice people but it's not fair to dunk our scales in water and then send them in for warranty :(
We're particularly care-giving to the i5000H because it uses a new expensive Hemp Plastic for it's housing and we HATE to see them break. It's an achievment we are proud of and want to see stay in use for many years to come.

i heard from the scale company almost immediately after e-mailing and despite the thousands of scales they send out they knew immediately to which (and whom) i was referring. i'm so glad that you posted this on the blog bc it gives me the opportunity to notify everyone that a scale is a precious instrument and needs care to keep it working correctly. for example, as instructions state: it should not be subjected to undue heat, or direct sunlight, or water which will destroy the pcb (which was the case here--apparently a wet solution.)

this has not been my experience but of course i have contacted the company and will respond as soon as i hear from them. since many places are closed for the holidays and i'm going to be away right after new years, i may not be able to post anything until after jan. 11th but i'm sure the co. will get in touch with you directly. they are very proud of their product and my experience is that this is justifiably so, therefore i'm sure this will have a positive resolution.

I too was delighted when I received my i5000-H scale from My Weigh. When the scale started displaying random numbers while weighing, I contacted the company and followed their Troubleshooting guide. Nothing helped the problem. The company was indeed easy to deal with and I returned my scale and quickly received a replacement (about two months ago). But, within a relatively short time, this second scale had the same problem as the first one. I have now sent the company four emails telling them that I want to return the scale and want my money refunded. Each time, the response I receive is the same canned response suggesting troubleshooting tips. I cannot get a direct response. I called the company today. In the morning, they did not identify themselves so I couldn't even tell if I had actually reached the correct company. But I left messages. Then later, in the day, they answered with a message that not only identified themselves but said that "due to the holidays" their phone system was flooded ... please leave a message and refer to their troubleshooting page. I am still wait for an response. I was so desperate I sent a message to their legal department in which I stated that if I continued without receive any input from them, I would alert people on-line to their customer service deficiencies (no response there either). I'm wondering if their phone system is flooded "due to the holidays" or due to batches of defective scales? Their system has certainly not evolved to the point where a human being even glances at emails and dispatches the appropriate canned response! Maybe this company has grown so fast due to the trust people have in this site and so is just beyond their competence to cope and will find a way to perform better in time but all I can say is, my experience of dealing with this company has been extremely frustrating and so far a waste of time.

I have wanted a Mettler Toledo (one of your previous top recommendations) until I read this. I ordered a KD-7000 a few weeks ago and I really love it. What really amazes me is the response time -- no wiggling back and forth between two values until the right one is achieved. It weighs quickly and (seemingly) accurately. My girflfriend -- the real cook (I am the baking and accuracy enthusiast) -- was skeptical that it was just another gizmo but now she loves it too. The day I received it at work, a co-worker (I don't even work in the food business) said it was awesome and ordered an i5000 with the detatchable bird perch (!!) to weigh his pet parrot. AND one of the body scales + body fat measures, to know how much he should lay off of the baked treats I bring in to the office.

My only initial issue (don't laugh) was the finish of the external plastic casing -- it just didn't seem so "quality" but I think this is one way they keep the price down. The inner workings are what count, and they seem superb.

i'm responsible for the mis-interpretation. i'll change it on my posting but also play it safe this time and give a direct quote from josh: "The prices are low because we believe in lower margin higher volume sales. We also keep our costs extremely low by producing and distributing the scales ourselves."

thanks for the correction. the scales are produced according to strict quality standards and that is what's important. glad you love yours too!

Thanks for the post Rose, I do hope that people will see the amount of effort we put into our scales to try and make them the absolute best in the marketplace. "Without feedback how can you know if you're doing something wrong" :)